Panasonic G9 vs Pentax K-500 Comparison

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Panasonic G9

20 MP | Four Thirds (17.3 x 13 mm) CMOS Sensor

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Pentax K-500

16 MP | APS-C (23.7 x 15.7 mm) CMOS Sensor

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Panasonic G9 vs Pentax K-500 Comparison Overview

Here we are comparing two cameras with different body types: Panasonic G9, which was introduced in November 2017 is a Pro Mirrorless camera with a 20.0MP Four Thirds sensor whereas Pentax K-500, which was introduced in November 2013 is a Entry-Level DSLR camera with a 16.0MP APS-C sensor. As you can see, K-500 is 4 years older than G9. Let's see if this age difference between two cameras makes a big difference.

Despite some fundamental differences of these two body types, Mirrorless cameras are becoming serious alternatives to DSLR cameras thanks to their size/weight advantages and recent improvements in their focus speeds , which makes this comparison even more interesting.

Here is a brief look at the main features of Panasonic G9 and Pentax K-500 before getting into our more detailed comparison.

Panasonic G9 Key Specs

Announcement Date: 2017-11-08

20MP - Four Thirds CMOS Sensor

No Anti-aliasing (AA) filter

ISO 200 - 25600

Micro Four Thirds Mount

Sensor-shift Image Stabilization

3" Fully Articulated Screen

3680k dot Electronic viewfinder

20.0fps continuous shooting

4K (UHD) - 3840 x 2160 video resolution

Built-in Wireless

658g. 137 x 97 x 92 mm

Weather Sealed Body

Pentax K-500 Key Specs

Announcement Date: 2013-11-27

16MP - APS-C CMOS Sensor

ISO 100 - 51600

Pentax KAF2 Mount

Sensor-shift Image Stabilization

3" Fixed Type Screen

Optical (pentaprism) viewfinder

6.0fps continuous shooting

Full HD - 1920 x 1080 video resolution

646g. 130 x 97 x 71 mm

Let's read on the following sections in order to better understand in detail how Panasonic G9 and Pentax K-500 compares and hopefully end up with enough arguments to decide which one is better for you.

Reasons to choose Panasonic Lumix DC-G9 over Pentax K-500

Wireless Connection	Built-In vs None	Better connectivity
LCD Screen	Fully Articulated vs Fixed Type	Flexible shooting positions
Touch Screen	Yes vs No	Easy control of camera functions
Viewfinder Magnification	0.83x vs 0.61x	Larger Viewfinder
Max Sensor Resolution	20 MP vs 16 MP	25% more pixels
Number of Focus Points	225 vs 11	214 more focus points
LCD Screen Resolution	1.040k dots vs 921k dots	12% higher resolution screen
Max Mech. Shutter	1/8000s vs 1/6000s	faster mechanical shutter
Continuous Shooting	20.0fps vs 6.0fps	14 fps faster
Microphone Port	Yes vs No	High quality audio recording option
Headphone Port	Yes vs No	better video control
Environmental Sealing	Yes vs No	shoot at tough conditions
Max Video Resolution	3840 x 2160 vs 1920 x 1080	Higher Resolution Video
Top LCD	Yes vs No	Help viewing and changing settings easily
AE Bracketing Range	±5 EV vs ±3 EV	Wide Bracketing range is useful for HDR
Flash Sync Port	Yes vs No	Connect off-camera flash
Selfie & Vlogger Friendly LCD	Yes vs No	Rotate LCD for taking Selfies
Pixel Shift High-Res Mode	Yes (80.0MP) vs No	Increased resolution with pixel shift
4K Photo Mode	Yes vs No	Extract 8MP photos from 4K Video
6K Photo Mode	Yes vs No	Extract 18MP photos from Video footage
Bluetooth	Yes vs No	Connect your camera to other devices via Blueetooth
Focus Bracketing	Yes vs No	Take multiple photos shifting focus point
Focus Stacking	Yes vs No	Stacks photos in-camera to maximize depth of field
Post Focus Mode	Yes vs No	Change focus point after taking a shot
Storage Slot	2 vs 1	Extra storage slot
Smartphone Remote	Yes vs No	Remote control your camera with a smartphone
UHS Card Support	UHS-II vs none	Read/Write in High Speeds
Webcam Function	Yes vs No	Use your camera as a Webcam

Reasons to choose Pentax K-500 over Panasonic Lumix DC-G9

Built-in Flash	Yes vs No	Useful in low-light
Max ISO	51.600 vs 25.600	101% higher Max ISO
Battery Life	710 shots vs 400 shots	310 more frames with a single charge
Weight	646 g vs 658 g	12 g lighter
Sensor Pixel Area	23.14µm² vs 11.16µm²	107% larger pixel area

Common Strengths of Panasonic Lumix DC-G9 and Pentax K-500

Image Stabilization	Sensor-shift vs Sensor-shift	Sharper images at longer focal lengths and long exposures
External Flash Shoe	Yes vs Yes	Better for flash photography
Viewfinder	Yes (Electronic) vs Yes (Optical)	Better framing and control
RAW Support	Yes vs Yes	Better image quality
Face Detection Focus	Yes vs Yes	very handy for portraits
Continuous Shooting	20.0fps vs 6.0fps	Fast shooting speeds
Timelapse Recording	Yes vs Yes	creative shooting
AE Bracketing	Yes vs Yes	Useful for tough lighting conditions and HDR

Common Weaknesses of Panasonic Lumix DC-G9 and Pentax K-500

Panasonic G9 vs Pentax K-500: Physical Specs and Body features Comparison

Size and weight is a big decision factor when you are trying to find the ideal camera for your needs. In this section, We are going to illustrate Panasonic G9 and Pentax K-500 side-by-side from the front, back and top in their relative dimensions. Panasonic G9 has external dimensions of 137 x 97 x 92 mm (5.39 x 3.82 x 3.62″) and weighs 658 g (1.45 lb / 23.21 oz) (including batteries). Pentax K-500 has external dimensions of 130 x 97 x 71 mm (5.12 x 3.82 x 2.8″) and weighs 646 g (1.42 lb / 22.79 oz) (including batteries).

Below you can see the front view size comparison of Panasonic G9 and Pentax K-500. Panasonic G9 has the same height with Pentax K-500. On the other hand, with a width of 137mm, it is 7 wider and also with a thickness of 92mm, it is 21mm thicker than Pentax K-500.

Comparison image of Panasonic G9 and Pentax K-500 Size, Weight and External Dimensions - Front View

Now lets look at the top view comparison of Panasonic G9 and Pentax K-500.

Top View Comparison image of Panasonic G9 and Pentax K-500 Size

Weight is another important factor especially when deciding on a camera that you want to carry with you all day. Pentax K-500 is 12g lighter than the Panasonic G9 but we don't think this will make a significant difference.

Also keep in mind that body weight is not the only deciding factor when comparing two interchangeable camera bodies, you have to also take into account the lenses that you will be using with these bodies. Since Pentax K-500 has an APS-C sized sensor and Panasonic G9 has a smaller Four Thirds sensor, Panasonic G9's lenses for a similar focal length and aperture will generally be lighter and smaller than the Pentax K-500 lenses.

Weight Comparison

DSLR Cameras

K-500

Min

Average

Max

Thickness Comparison

DSLR Cameras

K-500

Min

Average

Max

Weather Sealing

With its weather sealed body, we believe that G9 has a big advantage over K-500 which doesn't provide any kind of environmental sealing.

LCD Screen Size and Features

Panasonic G9 and Pentax K-500's LCD screens has the same diagonal size of 3".

On the other hand, Panasonic G9 sports a Fully Articulated screen which you can change the angle and position of the screen almost freely, making it possible to shoot from waist or over the head levels, and especially very useful for shooting selfies and video. Pentax K-500's LCD screen is a fixed type which provides almost no flexibility in shooting positions compared to G9.

Panasonic G9 vs Pentax K-500: Sensor Comparison

Panasonic G9 has a 20.0MP Four Thirds (17.3 x 13 mm ) sized CMOS sensor . On the other hand, Pentax K-500 has a 16.0MP APS-C (23.7 x 15.7 mm ) sized CMOS sensor and features PRIME M processor.

Another difference between these two cameras is that Panasonic G9's sensor lacks anti-alias (Low-Pass) filter. Removing anti-alias filter increases the sharpness and level of detail but at the same time, it increases the chance of moire occurring in certain scenes.

Below you can see the G9 and K-500 sensor size comparison.

Sensor Size and Resolution Comparison image of Panasonic G9 and Pentax K-500 Cameras

As seen above, Pentax K-500 has a 1.7x Larger sensor area than Panasonic G9. Larger sensors give photographer more control on the depth of field and blurry background compared to smaller sensor when shot in same focal length and aperture.

Panasonic G9 vs Pentax K-500 Comparison of Available Lenses

Which camera has more lenses?

Number of available lenses is a big decision factor while choosing your interchangeable lens camera. When we look at the available lenses for these two cameras, we see that Pentax K-500 has an advantage over Panasonic G9 There are 156 lenses for Pentax K-500's Pentax KAF2 mount, on the other hand there are only 108 lenses for Panasonic G9's Micro Four Thirds lens mount.

Another important factor is the availability of image stabilization. Both Panasonic G9 and Pentax K-500 has Sensor based Image stabilization which means that all the lenses will be stabilized in these bodies. G9's built-in Image stabilization system is effective to compensate vibration up to 6.5-stops according to CIPA standards.

Lens Type	# of Panasonic G9 Lenses	# of Pentax K-500 Lenses
Standard Zoom	15	23
Standard Prime	13	21
Wideangle Zoom	6	12
Wideangle Prime	29	25
Telephoto Zoom	18	21
Telephoto Prime	9	14
SuperZoom	8	15
Wideangle Fisheye Prime	5	3
Macro Prime	4	14
Perspective Control Prime	n/a	8
Telephoto Mirror Prime	1	n/a
TOTAL	108	156

Now let's compare some sample lenses from each mount with typical Focal ranges for Panasonic G9 and Pentax K-500 to see how these lenses compares:

Fast Standard Zoom Lenses

Model		FF Equiv.	Weight	Weight w/ Cam	Length	Street Price
	Panasonic 12-35mm F2.8 OIS	24 - 70mm	305gr	963gr	74mm	Amazon B&H Photo
	Pentax smc 16-50mm F2.8 ED	24 - 75mm	565gr	1211gr	99mm	Amazon B&H Photo

Fast Tele Zoom Equivalent Lenses

Model		FF Equiv.	Weight	Weight w/ Cam	Length	Street Price
	Panasonic X 35-100mm F2.8 II Power OIS	70 - 200mm	357gr	1015gr	100mm	Amazon B&H Photo
	Pentax DA 50-135mm F2.8 ED	75 - 202.5mm	685gr	1331gr	136mm	Amazon B&H Photo

Fast Normal Prime Equivalent Lenses

Model		FF Equiv.	Weight	Weight w/ Cam	Length	Street Price
	Panasonic 25mm F1.4 II ASPH	50mm	205gr	863gr	55mm	Amazon B&H Photo
	Pentax FA 31mm F1.8 L	31mm	345gr	991gr	69mm	Amazon B&H Photo

Fast Wideangle Zoom Equivalent Lenses

Model		FF Equiv.	Weight	Weight w/ Cam	Length	Street Price
	Panasonic 8-18mm F2.8-4.0 ASPH	16 - 36mm	315gr	973gr	88mm	Amazon B&H Photo
	Pentax 12-24mm F4.0 ED AL	18 - 36mm	430gr	1076gr	84mm	Amazon B&H Photo

24-105mm f4 Equivalent Lenses

Model		FF Equiv.	Weight	Weight w/ Cam	Length	Street Price
	Panasonic 12-60mm F2.8-4.0 ASPH Power OIS	24 - 120mm	320gr	978gr	86mm	Amazon B&H Photo
	Pentax 17-70mm F4.0 AL SDM	25.5 - 105mm	485gr	1131gr	94mm	Amazon B&H Photo

Super-Tele Zoom Equivalent Lenses

Model		FF Equiv.	Weight	Weight w/ Cam	Length	Street Price
	Panasonic 100-400mm F4.0-6.3	200 - 800mm	985gr	1643gr	172mm	Amazon B&H Photo
	Sigma 120-400mm F4.5-5.6 DG HSM	120 - 400mm	1640gr	2286gr	203mm	Amazon B&H Photo

What types of Photography are Panasonic G9 and Pentax K-500 Good for?

In this section, we rank and compare Panasonic G9 and Pentax K-500 for five different photography types in order to make your decision process easier in case you are specifically interested in one or more of these areas.

Panasonic G9 for Portrait Photography

GOOD

Pentax K-500 for Portrait Photography

GOOD

Large Four Thirds (17.3 x 13 mm) sensor
Very High Resolution Sensor: 20.0MP
Image Stabilization
Electronic Built-in Viewfinder
Good Ergonomics&Handling
Read the details

Large APS-C (23.7 x 15.7 mm) sensor
Image Stabilization
Optical Built-in Viewfinder
Good Ergonomics&Handling
Average Resolution Sensor: 16.0MP
Read the details

Panasonic G9 for Street Photography

EXCELLENT

Pentax K-500 for Street Photography

EXCELLENT

Large Four Thirds (17.3 x 13 mm) sensor
Image Stabilization
Electronic Built-in Viewfinder
Live-view
Face-Detection Focusing
Fully Articulated LCD Screen
Medium sized Body
Read the details

Large APS-C (23.7 x 15.7 mm) sensor
Image Stabilization
Optical Built-in Viewfinder
Live-view
Face-Detection Focusing
Large Body
Read the details

Panasonic G9 for Sports Photography

GOOD

Pentax K-500 for Sports Photography

EXCELLENT

Image Stabilization
Electronic Built-in Viewfinder
Good Ergonomics&Handling
Fast Continuous Shooting: 20.0fps
Environmental Sealings
Fast Max shutter speed: 1/8000s
225 Focus Points
Wireless Connection
Read the details

Image Stabilization
Optical Built-in Viewfinder
Good Ergonomics&Handling
Fast Max shutter speed: 1/6000s
9 Cross Type Focus sensors
11 Focus Points
Good Battery Life: 710 shots
Good Low Light ISO
Average Continuous Shooting: 6.0fps
Environmental Sealings
Read the details

Panasonic G9 for Daily Photography

GOOD

Pentax K-500 for Daily Photography

GOOD

Large Four Thirds (17.3 x 13 mm) sensor
Environmental Sealings
Medium size Body
658g
Body Thickness 92mm
Read the details

Large APS-C (23.7 x 15.7 mm) sensor
Large Body
646g
Body Thickness 71mm
Read the details

Panasonic G9 for Landscape Photography

AVERAGE

Pentax K-500 for Landscape Photography

AVERAGE

Large Four Thirds (17.3 x 13 mm) sensor
Very High Resolution Sensor: 20.0MP
Environmental Sealings
Live-view
Read the details

Large APS-C (23.7 x 15.7 mm) sensor
Live-view
Average Resolution Sensor: 16.0MP
No Environmental Sealings
Read the details

Panasonic G9 vs Pentax K-500: OUR DECISION

You may have already made your decision about which camera suits better for your needs and your budget so far but in case you wonder how we rated Panasonic G9 and Pentax K-500, below you can find their scores in five different aspects. Our Decision Algorithm dynamically scores cameras using 69 different specs, current price and DxO Mark scores (where possible) in order to make a more objective and consistent comparison.

Here is a summary of how Panasonic G9 and Pentax K-500 scores compare:

Panasonic G9

Imaging

Features

Value

Portability

Overall

Ranked #41 out of 93 in SLR-style mirrorless cameras
Ranked #67 out of 1233 in all Cameras

Pentax K-500

Imaging

Features

Value

Portability

Overall

Ranked #25 out of 79 in Compact SLR cameras
Ranked #211 out of 1233 in all Cameras

Panasonic G9 has a higher Overall Score than the Pentax K-500 and would be our choice if we have to decide between these two cameras.

Pentax K-500 vs Panasonic G9 Specs Table

Detailed comparison of specifications

General	Panasonic Lumix DC-G9	Pentax K-500
Brand	Panasonic	Pentax
Announced	2017-11-08	2013-11-27
Body Type	SLR-style mirrorless	Compact SLR
Sensor
Type	CMOS	CMOS
Size	Four Thirds	APS-C
Dimensions	17.3 x 13 mm	23.7 x 15.7 mm
Area	224.90mm²	372.09mm²
Megapixels	20 megapixels	16 megapixels
Max Resolution	5184 x 3888	4928 x 3264
Max Native Light sensitivity	25,600 ISO	51,600 ISO
Min Native Light sensitivity	200 ISO	100 ISO
Min Boosted Light Sensitivity	100 ISO	-
RAW Support
Autofocus
AF Touch
AF Continuous
AF Single
AF Tracking
AF Selective
AF Center
AF Multi Area
AF Live View
AF Face Detection
AF Contrast Detection
AF Phase Detection
Number of Focus Points	225	11
Lens
Manual Focus
Lens Mount	Micro Four Thirds	Pentax KAF2
Number of Available Lenses	108	156
Screen
Type	Fully Articulated	Fixed type
Size	3"	3"
Resolution	1,040k dots	921k dots
Touch Screen
Viewfinder
Viewfinder	Electronic	Optical (pentaprism)
Viewfinder Resolution	3,680k dots	no electronic viewfinder
Viewfinder Coverage	100%	100%
Viewfinder Magnification	0.83x	0.61x
Photography Features
Max Mechanical Shutter	1/8000s	1/6000s
Max Electronic Shutter	1/32000s	n/a
Shutter Priority
Aperture Priority
Manual Exposure Mode
Custom White Balance
Built-in Image Stabilization	Sensor-shift	Sensor-shift
Built-in Flash
Flash Range	no built-in flash	12.00 m (at ISO 100)
Max Flash Sync	n/a	1/180s
External Flash
Continuous Shooting	20.0 fps	6.0 fps
Multi-Segment Metering
Average Metering
Spot Metering
Partial Metering
AF-Area Metering
Center Weighted Metering
AE Bracketing
WB Bracketing
Video Features
Max Video Resolution	3840 x 2160	1920 x 1080
Video Formats	MPEG-4, AVCHD, H.264	MPEG-4, H.264
Microphone Port
Headphone Port
Connectivity
Wireless Connectivity	Built-In	None
HDMI
Physical
Environmental Sealing
Weight	658g	646g
Dimensions	137 x 97 x 92mm	130 x 97 x 71mm
Battery Life	400 shots	710 shots
Other Features
Timelapse Recording
GPS	None	Optional
DxO Sensor Scores
DxO Overall Score	not tested	79
DxO Color Depth	not tested	23.7
DxO Dynamic Range	not tested	13.1
DxO Low Light ISO	not tested	1087
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